


Whumptober 27

by Waywocket



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: only briefly mentioned, pants!Rabbit - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27222430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywocket/pseuds/Waywocket
Summary: Rabbit's core has been unstable for far too long. Fixing it has led to an interesting discovery and The Spine has never seen her happier. Life just seemed too perfect.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Whumptober 27

Rabbit’s core had been unstable for years. It was practically a part of their personality now. Just something the manor expected. Glitches and the occasional meltdown. Nothing the Walter Workers couldn’t deal with. 

But it was becoming too frequent and getting worse. The blue matter effects were starting to leak into the manor. Rabbit’s dreams coming to life, or places where things got thin, portals trying to form. It wasn’t safe to take them to shows.

It had been a madhouse trying to find the original blueprints. How they had managed to get so lost was beyond Six. They should have all been kept together.

When someone did find them, it was a long conversation. The Spine sat with Rabbit while she tried to explain why she’d never come forward before. That pappy had been too happy to want to disrupt anything, and she was afraid no one would believe her.

She would be out for a few days. Long enough that The Spine had time to sneak in a few new pieces into her wardrobe. It wasn’t much, but something he hoped would make her happy. Overall it was a simple black dress with puffed up sleeves, a ruffled black Walter Worker dress. He found a corset to slip over it to make it look a little flashier. It was a start, at least.

When she finally powered back on, she woke up surrounded by family. Sitting up, she smiled brightly. She’d undergone quite the change inside and out. Her core glowed a bright red now instead of blue. “H-hey th-there! Did-didn’t expect such a cr-crowd when I woke up!”

The Spine laughed and leaned over to hug her tightly. “It’s good to see you awake. I was worried about my sister.”

She beamed brightly at hearing him call her his sister and clung to him tightly. He didn’t mention the oil soaking into his suit. It was, understandably, a bit overwhelming for her to suddenly be a completed bot.

“Come on. You’ve been stuck in that suit long enough, come on.” Helping his sister off the bench, he tugged her back upstairs. 

“I don-don’t know what you’re expecting, Spineo,” she chided as she followed him up. She may have gotten an overhaul, but that didn’t change what was in her room.

He just grinned widely and sat down on the edge of her bed to let her look. “I’m sure there’s something in there that we can work with.”

When she found the dress, she squealed in delight. “Spine, it’s amazing!” Hugging the fabric to her chest, she spun around in a tight circle, dancing on her feet.

Suddenly she was pushing her brother out of the room. “Out out! You can’t be in here while I change! It ain’t appropriate.”

Laughing, Spine nearly fell on his face as he stumbled out of Rabbit’s room. “I’m going, I’m going!” While he waited, he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. 

After a while, when she hadn’t opened the door, he tilted his head. “You alright in there, Rabbit? Not too fiddly?” He asked and laughed when he heard something hit the door.

“I wear six belts! I can figure out a dress!”

Another long pause and she cracked open the door. “Okay, maybe I need some help,” she muttered.

Once she had managed to get zipped in and added a few belts, for flair and tradition, she said, Rabbit spun in front of the mirror, giggling like a loon.

Back on the edge of the bed, Spine watched his sister with a small smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her so happy. Not since before Peter I passed away at least. Excited, wild, smiling, content, sure. But not truly happy.

After a while, she stopped and laid a hand on her head, gently running over the shiny copper. She wasn’t sure she liked that.

Watching her, Spine lifted his hat a little to show off his hair. “Want to wear my wig?” He offered. While he would have let her, they both laughed when she threw a pillow at him. Maybe not that one. “What about your rabbit ears? Those might work for now.”

With a hum, she looked back in the mirror. Gears whirred slowly, and her head opened up as copper antennas came up in the shape of large rabbit ears. She wiggled them around a little, turning them this way and that before she settled on how she liked them. Yeah, those were okay! Giggling, she spun around and showed off her new look.

“They look perfect, Rabbit,” praised The Spine.

Rabbit looked like she could have vibrated through the floor with excitement. Everything was just perfect! “I-I-I gotsta show-show everyone!” Hurrying out the door, she ran through the manor to show off her new, well everything!

The Spine had to stop her to get water more than once as she got excited, and bubbled on about how much she loved the dress. No one mentioned it looked like a dyed uniform. The Spine had done his best.

While she ran around, he could hardly keep up with her and opted to just be around, to make sure she was alright. Sure there weren’t really any risks for her in the manor, but that was still his sister, and he wanted to make sure she was alright after such a big change. He wasn’t sure he had ever seen her so energetic and full of life before. It was good to see her so happy now.

“It’s late, Rabbit. We need to shut down for a little while.”

“ B-b-b-b-but, Spine! It’s not that late! I wanna see what kind of dresses I can get! Petes promised I could buy some new clothes!”

Gently tugging her up to the room, his shoulders slumped. “Tomorrow. We can spend all day looking at dresses, okay? We'll find someone to take us to the mall or something.”

That worked! Mostly. She ran into her room, but he wasn’t sure she ever went into stasis.

Admittedly, he was excited too. This had been a long time coming, and he was glad Rabbit could have it at last. Even if he didn't think he could ever keep up with her again. Laying in his own bed, he sighed a happy stream of steam and powered down for a while.

It was easier in the morning. The Spine nearly had to pull her out of bed. 

She was tired and sluggish. When she wouldn’t respond to knocking, The Spine marched in and found her tangled in her blanket. 

"Must have used up all your energy bouncing around yesterday," teased Spine as he finally dragged his sister out of bed. He laughed when she swatted at him, clanging softly against his metal arm.

After making sure water boilers were topped up, he was worried she hadn't perked back up yet. She must have really been excited last night. Though he still didn’t think she should have been this worn down. They really didn’t need to sleep after all.

"Come on, we can look online for dresses," he offered, trying to get some life in her.

She perked up a little, at least as she followed him off to check the computer. Before they even sat down, she was asking about what kind of dresses there were. He wondered if it would have been better to have Upgrade or Malfunction there. He didn’t know all that much about dresses after all.

There wasn't a single dress she didn't gush over and plan on begging Petes for. From sundresses to ball gowns and even a few nightgowns she said were too pretty for bed.

When he suggested shoes, he thought she had ruined her voice box with that squeal. Or at least ruined his hearing! Who knew there were that many styles of shoes! The Spine wondered if he should update his own wardrobe. Of course, Rabbit came first.

That was the energy he was expecting! Not that he knew how the manor was going to fund this wardrobe. 

He was pretty good with a needle and thread. There had to be something he could manage. Something he could look into later. For now, he was fine just sitting with Rabbit and planning outfits she would probably never get to wear.

They talked a while about what colours went with copper, and he bored her with information on wigs. There was a black and pink one that she had fallen in love with. Without thinking, he bought that.

After a while, she got quiet and leaned against his shoulder. She really must have been up too long. He supposed too much excitement could do it, even for robots that ran on blue matter, or red matter rather.

Smiling softly, he wrapped an arm around her and closed out of the tabs. That was alright. They'd been at it a good portion of the day, a break was good.

Once the computer was off, he gave her a gentle shake. "Come on, you. Nap somewhere else," he teased.

Nothing.

That was concerning. Rabbit shouldn't have been able to get that tired. Maybe she was pranking Spine again?

"Come on, I'll drop you," he warned, moving her he tried to trick her into getting up. Seeing her lulled back, he gasped.

"RABBIT!"

Her core had gone dark in her chest. 

He called for help, screaming over the wifi as he lifted her up from the chair. Cradling her safely against his chest, he ran full speed through the manor and down to the labs.

The Walter Workers and Six were scrambling, trying to prepare as he barged into the room. Rushing him in the Walter Workers had to pry Rabbit from his arms to get her on the table.

The Spine was too heavy to force out of the lab. As much as they reasoned they would work better without him there, he refused to leave. That was Rabbit, his sister, on the table. He wouldn't leave her side.

While they worked, he paced the room and hovered over their shoulders. He sobbed and cried, quietly begging Rabbit to be alright. She couldn't die now, not now most of all.

Six was relentless as he worked. When restarting her failed, he opened up Rabbit's chest and checked every wire. Groundings, ports, gears, and screws, nothing was wrong, and nothing was working.

He poured hours into trying to bring Rabbit back online. Even the smallest detail wasn’t left unnoticed. The strangest idea was given a try, no matter how far fetched. He had even tried promising her a truckload of chocolate moon pies. He had nearly replaced all of her, hoping something would work.

"The red matter stabilized her, but it wasn't strong enough to keep her powered." Six put a hand over his mask and quietly wept. 

The Walter Workers put their tools down and looked down at their feet. There was nothing left for them to try.

“Then make her core blue again!" Demanded Spine, stepping over to loom over Petes. 

Six looked pained up at the titanium robot. Tears streamed down from under his mask, soaking into his lab coat. “I can’t.”


End file.
